Grains: a link and a my take on the topic.

Probably the biggest topic of the paleo diet is the nixing of grains. So many people are hooked on their bagels and cake (or at least their whole wheat toast and pasta) to the point where if you suggest taking it all away they become aggravated. Well the topic has been written about and gone over more times than I can count, so rather than take the time to write down every reason you should not eat them, I'll give you this link which explains it well enough.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-grains/

But why do I believe in what the link above says? Well let's look at the period of time about 3 months before I went paleo, to about a month after I went paleo. During this time, I was working as a package handler for UPS which is probably the most physically strenuous job I've ever had. I was up at about 2:30 a.m. At work at 4 ish, and done by 9. But for the entire 5 hour shift I was moving packages that sometimes weighed around 120lbs, running back and forth between 3-5 trucks, and putting up with the deplorable air conditions (you ever blow your nose and only black snot comes out? That's what you get at UPS.)

So needless to say my energy expenditure was really high. Usually I'd wake up, curse my life, eat a bowl of cereal, and head out. On this program, I have enough energy to get in the car (carpool ftw) and stay awake till we hit the freeway, then I would usually pass out and drag ass for the rest of the morning. During this time, my weight stayed constant. I wasn't losing (strangely enough to me at the time) and I wasn't gaining. It stayed this way for months, usually having a break once every two weeks because I would get sick.

I found the paleo diet and my breakfasts shifted from 1 or 2 bowls of cereal to 2 egg omelets with bacon or sausage (or both) and spinach or mushroom (or both) and a small salad. My energy went through the roof. All of a sudden I was awake and alert the entire ride to work, shifts started to breeze by, I wasn't sick as often, and life seemed a whole lot better. I wondered why there was such a drastic change, it must have been the caloric intake I guessed. But looking at a 2 cup bowl of cereal with 1 cup of 2% milk, the calories came out to a little less than 500. Yet a 2 egg omelet with 1 strip of bacon and 1 cup of salad equaled out to around 3-400 calories depending on the amount of cheese or dressing I put on the salad. So what was the difference?

I'm sure it was a combination of the insulin spike that came with my morning rush of carb heavy grains (followed by the signature energy crash), and the fact that grains come with anti-nutrients which make it hard for your body to absorb any of the beneficial nutrients that might exist in the grain itself. So for the next 5 hours of digestion, my body was going hungry comparatively to the omelet  which gave me it's full nutritional value, without an insulin spike and energy crash.

Another funny thing is between then and now, I've gone off my diet 2-3 times, each time I have eaten grains I experienced energy drops, pimples start to pop up, I gain weight, and my stomach goes through digestive problems. All of which go away as soon as I cut them out again.

Try it out for yourself and see how much better you feel without them, you might be amazed.


-Rob